Sake Musings
by Alastair Seki
Summary: Jiraiya, late at night, wonders over a bottle of sake what it will be like to meet Tsunade again. One never knows what time will change. Another character piece. Rated T, because I don't want to chance offending anyone with mention of drunkenness. R&R, pl


Hello, readers! Once again I bring you a character dissection piece. This one is focusing on Jiraiya, and most especially on his thoughts about Tsunade. It's set after the chuunin exams when he and Naruto are out searching for her; and a very short time before they actually find her. I got the inspiration for this story from the same set of random lines where I got the inspiration for "Ink." I read the line and Tsunade immediately popped into my head, and this little plot bunny was born, and learned how to pester instantly. (The line is, again, the last line in the story (it's a little modified, but still has the same essence). … Is that becoming a habit? … Oh well!)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. If I did, he would get hugs 24/7. So would Gaara. And Sasuke, too, after I slapped him around a little bit for being so stupid about some things…. But I don't own the story, so I can only dream.

ooo

"Snore…. Snooore…. **Snooooooore**…."

'_Geez! That kid is getting annoying! I can't even hear my sake pouring!'_

Jiraiya was drunk. Not too badly, mind, but he was still a little tipsy. Now, normally, he wouldn't be staying up at ungodly hours of the morning drinking sake in a cheap hotel room with his apprentice sleeping on a futon by the window. ... Normally, there wouldn't be an apprentice present. But, he still figured that he could make an exception to his don't-drink-excessively-around-kids rule. Just for one night.

He had a bad feeling this particular night. It was kind of like the feeling you get when you are walking down the street and all of a sudden you just _know_ that there's someone or something around the next corner. He knew that something was coming, and he had a pretty good guess as to what. After all, they were looking for something, or rather, someone, right? So, he figured that they would find his old teammate quite soon. Probably sometime during the next day, he mused.

Why would he be drinking because of that? Heh. Because he didn't know what to think about it, that's why. Sure, he had come on this mission with the express purpose of finding Tsunade, but now that they were so close to actually doing it, he didn't know where to begin. What would he say to her? How should he act? Maybe he would act like a brother who had finally found his long-lost sister. Or maybe like a perverted stalker, and try and rile her up like he always used to do, back in the old days. Would he be able to tell her what had happened? He hoped she would listen. But, he wasn't exactly optimistic about that…

He definitely couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he showed up with Naruto tagging along. She probably would get a kick out of teasing him about his idiotic apprentice. … Though, she probably would see that the little punk does have a lot of potential stuck in that altogether unimpressive form. He wondered if she would notice the similarities. Between Naruto, and _them_. … Probably, if she was even half as perceptive as anything like he remembered.

And that was the crux of the problem. He didn't know if she'd be the same. He hadn't seen her for a very long time. And he knew as well as anyone that time has a way of changing people. Especially if during that period of time a lot of bad stuff happens. Had she had to deal with any other terrible things happening? Had her life been happy? Was he about to ruin her ability to forget everything about Konoha by waltzing into her life again?

And so Jiraiya sat in the dark, both literally and figuratively. He sat pouring sake, then thinking, then drinking the sake as he waited for the sun to rise, or himself to pass out, whichever came first. He was pretty certain he'd be seeing the sunrise that morning.

The last thought to cross his mind before the sun's rays peeked their way over the hills on the horizon was…

'_Is she still beautiful? … She's not broken, is she?'_

ooo


End file.
